In this report on education systems in Repeatedly High Performing Jurisdictions (RHPJs) the authors present data on the assessment approaches used at the end of basic secondary education. These assessments are conducted at around the age of 16, at approximately the stage when students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland take the General…

The coronavirus pandemic has led to drastic measures around the world, which have also affected the education system. Schools were closed in the spring of 2020 in almost every country in the world, and many children and young people are still involved in distance learning to this day. What effect these measures have on children's and young…

With the strengthening of the global economy, contemporary societies have come to view the educational achievements of their young people as a major component of national competiveness. But there are substantial variations in the strategies employed by different nations. To maximize educational achievements, some nations believe that the provision…

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was designed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to evaluate the quality, equity, and efficiency of school systems around the world. Specifically, the PISA has assessed 15-year-old students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy on a 3-year cycle, since…

The literature establishes that education drives economic performance, but the extent that education is associated with a country's competitiveness is empirically untested. Our study analyses Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data from 63 countries to ascertain education's role in explaining the competitiveness of a country.…

Selective and comprehensive school systems vary in both the degree and timing of selection. To study the consequences of such variation, cross-national comparisons are usually undertaken. Given that cultural differences between countries affect pathways and outcomes, apportioning causal influence in such studies can be difficult. In 1970s Britain,…

This article evaluates PISA 2000 as a resource for providing information on educational attainment and inequality, focusing on France and England. Going beyond pupils' performance, it assesses levels of educational inequality by examining distributions of scores and the relationship between socio-economic status and performance. This review raises…

The gross differences in scholastic achievement among public, private government-dependent, and private independent schools in 22 countries are analyzed with Programme for International Student Assessment 2000 data. In a multilevel approach, the authors estimate these sector effects, controlling for sociological characteristics of students and…

Outlines six methods of making comparisons of educational standards of achievement when opportunities for education are unequal in the various units of comparison. Applies the methods to data from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement and 1979 data from Papua, New Guinea high schools. (NEC)

Concern about low performance levels on the 0 level science examinations because of difficulty performing mathematical expressions of the form axb/c led to an investigation to assess the mean level of performance for secondary level science students in Britain. Average levels of performance did not meet 0 level standards. (Author/IS)

Examines the argument that school sponsorship mechanisms are effective determinants of educational plans and attainment in societies geared toward sponsored mobility. Emphasis is placed on determinants of curriculum placement in Israeli high schools. Information is presented on tracking of students of different ethnic backgrounds and effects of…

Investigates how student attitudes, motivation, and method of examination affect scores in English language examinations of adolescents in English high schools. (Author/DB)

Unlike Japanese and European schools, U.S. public schools treat music as a nonserious, peripheral "activity" suitable for a few talented students. However, music education is as fundamental to the curriculum as math or reading. One study showed that high-school musicians achieved higher Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. (15 references)…

In the face of the deliberations that have been taking place in England for several years now about the merging of two '16+' examinations, the CSE and GCE Ordinary level, author investigated the French system and the examination, the BEPC, taken at 'intermediate' level by 'average' and 'above average' students. (Author/RK)

The Harambee schools make up 75 percent of all secondary schools in Kenya, but only 7 percent of students enrolled in the University of Nairobi have attended these schools. Describes a typical Harambee school in Uvumbi and discusses serious problems schools are experiencing throughout Kenya, despite correct recognition that education is major…